2021 Citizen Science Brand Audit Report August 2021 Authors: Amy Slack (Surfers Against Sewage) Sally Menna Turner (Salthub) Executive Summary
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2021 Citizen science Brand Audit Report August 2021 Authors: Amy Slack (Surfers Against Sewage) Sally Menna Turner (SaltHub) Executive summary Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) launched its flagship week of the Million Mile Clean from 11th May - 23rd May. As part of this event, volunteers took part in a national brand audit, an important citizen science programme to drive corporate behaviour change. 2021 citizen science As the UK’s biggest coordinated beach clean event, over 50,000 For the Dirty Dozen companies, 52% of items would be captured through volunteers took part in 600 cleans, covering 350,000 miles in total an ‘all-in’ Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) design. Over 80% of coca-cola’s brand audit over the Million Mile flagship week. Of these volunteers, 3,917 walked packaging, the top polluter, is estimated to be captured through this scheme. report and cleaned 11,139 miles of beaches, rivers, mountains and more, 63% of all items monitored as part of the brand audit were unbranded. submitting 377 brand audit data sets. A total of 26,983 items of Cigarette butts were by far the biggest contributor at 25% of the packaging pollution were monitored as part of the brand audit. 01 Executive summary unbranded items. Although receiving considerable attention over the The top 12 most polluting brands were responsible for 48% of all last 18 months, PPE only accounted for 2.5% of all pollution monitored 02 introduction packaging pollution monitored during the audit. There was little change through the audit. Whilst clearly an emerging threat, it is important that 03 Polluting brands in the most polluting brands of 2021 compared to 2019 results with this should not distract from the significant amount of pollution caused Coca-Cola, Walkers, McDonalds, Cadbury, Tesco, Lucozade, Costa by brands and their parent companies. 04 the dirty dozen Coffee, Mars Wrigley and Haribo all making repeat appearances. This year’s brand audit shows that little has changed in terms of those 05 Polluting products This year’s Dirty Dozen companies were responsible for a massive 65% responsible for the pollution on beaches, rivers, streets and countryside. of all branded items collected. Coca-Cola once again took the top spot Despite the corporate promises and commitments made, the plastic 06 The potential for a with Pepsi-Co holding on to the second place. production and pollution tap is still not being turned off. We need Deposit return scheme companies, and their brands, to stop peddling false solutions and The COVID-19 pandemic has seen some changes in the most polluting instead focus on ways to meaningfully reduce packaging production and 07 getting polluters to pay brands and the Dirty Dozen companies. Brands such as Stella Artois pollution and adopt models of reuse and refill. and Budweiser have moved up into the top 12 polluting brands with 08 Unbranded pollution Anheauser-Bush InBev moving from eight to third in the Dirty Dozen And we need to see governments introduce policies that are proven companies ranking. This is likely to be due to the closure of pubs, bars to prevent pollution reaching the ocean. We need a Deposit Return 09 impact on the environment and restaurants increasing personal alcohol consumption in public Scheme (DRS) that captures all sizes of containers of as wide a range of 10 region & area trends recreational settings during lockdowns. materials as possible, not one limited to only ‘on-the-go’ containers. We need to stop the dither and delay and get on with introducing an ‘all-in’ 11 the conclusion Looking at the types of items found as part of the brand audit, it is DRS NOW. estimated that almost 30% of all material monitored through the brand 12 our calls audit would be captured by an ‘all-in’ Deposit Return Scheme. Join us to #ReturnToOffender 2 Surfers Against Sewage 2021 Citizen Science Brand Audit Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY brand audit key findings The top 12 most polluting 9,998 branded brands are responsible for items were found 48% of branded 2021 citizen science linked to 328 companies in total, and only 2.5% of pollution overall 26,938 items pollution collected brand audit These brands included... were recorded overall including both was categorised as PPE, despite report branded and unbranded items receiving considerable media attention coca-cola, walkers, over the last 18 months mcdonalds *, cadbury 01 Executive summary An ‘all-in’ drs Tesco, Lucozade, Costa Coffee, Budweiser, would prevent Mars Wrigley, Stella Artois, Haribo* and Aldi, 02 introduction and not much has changed over the past over half of the couple of years 03 Polluting brands reported pollution 04 the dirty dozen from the Dirty Dozen companies 3,913 volunteers collected branded items from 05 Polluting products anheuser-busch 11,139 miles 06 The potential for a inbev for the brand audit Deposit return scheme moved from position 8 in The Dirty Dozen companies 2019 to position 3 in the Dirty Dozen are responsible for 07 getting polluters to pay As one of the world’s largest brewers for beer, an 08 Unbranded pollution Coca-Cola increase in this alcohol brand’s pollution count could Over 65% of all and Pepsico represent how the public have enjoyed outdoor recreational areas during the COVID-19 pandemic branded pollution 09 impact on the environment remained at the top of the Dirty 10 region & area trends Dozen leader board in positions one collected Cigarette butts, miscellaneous plastic and two in years 2019 and 2021 and bottles were found to be the most These included Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, 11 the conclusion This is despite continued promises prolific unbranded items, accounting for Anheuser-Busch InBev, McDonalds*, and commitments to driving progress Mondelez International, Heineken, Tesco, 12 our calls toward plastic waste reduction 48% of unbranded Carlsberg Group, Suntory, Haribo*, Mars and targets and stated ambitions to Aldi. These are all above the threshhold build a circular economy pollution overall for current EPR guidelines 3 Surfers Against Sewage 2021 Citizen Science Brand Audit Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY intro Figure 1 duction shows the number of brand audits submitted across the UK during This report presents the analysis of the brand audit data the Million Mile clean collected at locations across the UK, by volunteers on behalf flagship week of Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) during the Million Mile Clean 2021 flagship week. Volunteers 2021 citizen science submitted Scotland (19 audits) brand audit The flagship week of the Million Mile Clean 2021 ran from 11th - brand audit 23rd May 2021 with over 50,000 volunteers walking and cleaning data from report 350,000 miles. Of these volunteers, 3,913 took part in the UKs biggest Beaches, coordinated brand audit covering 11,139 miles of local beaches and rivers, other public recreational spaces across the UK. The brand audit is 01 Executive summary North East (18 audits) streets, part of SAS’s national programme of citizen science research 02 introduction projects highlighting the major brands and parent companies parks & contributing to the pollution at UK beaches, parks, streets, mountains 03 Polluting brands rivers, mountains and more. Northern Ireland (3 audits) 04 the dirty dozen 26,983 items of pollution in total, including branded and unbranded items, were identified and submitted. North West (24 audits) 05 Polluting products Yorkshire (6 audits) The subsequent analysis covered two levels of branding: 06 The potential for a 1. The brand of the product, and brand audit Deposit return scheme Data from 3,913 West Midlands (9 audits) East Midlands: (11 audits) 2. The parent company which owns the brand (where applicable), defined as the main brand of a company volunteers was 07 getting polluters to pay submitted from or organisation which supports product or service 08 Unbranded pollution subsidiaries by sharing its identity. 377 individual Wales (29 audits) Eastern England (15 audits) cleans across 09 impact on the environment All products were categorised into product-type which the uk enabled the subsequent classification of all branded and 10 region & area trends unbranded items. Together they recorded This report identifies the Dirty Dozen companies at the 11 the conclusion 26,983 items South East (69 audits) source of the pollution chain and the breakdown of of pollution 12 our calls polluting brands. In addition, the mapping of the items South West (129 audits) against their product categories established the likely impact that an ‘all-in’ Deposit would have on pollution found in the environment. Channel Islands (2 audits) 4 Surfers Against Sewage 2021 Citizen Science Brand Audit Report Polluting Brands 26,983 items of pollution were collected in the brand audit in Figure 3 total, including branded and unbranded items. Shows how the top polluting brands have changed between 2019 and 2021 2021 citizen science Out of the total number of items found, 9,998 were identified as branded and linked to 327 known brands. Of these, the top 12 brands were 2019 2021 brand audit identified as responsible for 48% of branded pollution overall. 1 Coca-Cola - 1 Coca-Cola report Figure 2 shows the top 12 polluting brands identified from all collected 2 Walkers - 2 Walkers items by volunteers. Top brands included Coca-Cola, Walkers, McDonalds, 3 Cadbury 1 3 McDonalds 01 Executive summary Cadbury, Tesco, Lucozade, Costa Coffee, Budweiser, Mars- Wrigley, 4 McDonalds 1 4 Cadbury Stella Artois, Haribo and Aldi, the number of items of pollution collected 02 introduction 5 Nestlé 16 5 Tesco and the percentage of pollution across all brands found. Coca-Cola items were identified over three times more than some of the other top 6 Lucozade - 6 Lucozade 03 Polluting brands polluting brands. 7 Mars-Wrigley 2 7 Costa Coffee 04 the dirty dozen 8 Haribo 3 8 Budweiser Figure 2 9 Tesco 4 9 Mars-Wrigley 05 Polluting products Shows the top polluting brands and the number of items collected 10 Pepsi 18 10 Stella Artois 06 The potential for a Coca-Cola - 962 11 Heineken 11 11 Haribo Deposit return scheme Walkers - 694 12 Costa Coffee 5 12 Aldi McDonalds - 530 07 getting polluters to pay Cadbury - 420 Figure 3 shows that the top two top polluting brands have not changed 08 Unbranded pollution Tesco - 325 position for two years years.